9 questions to ask yourself before you walk away

Lets face it, thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure are leaving their homes before they know whether or not they have a chance to save it. Ask yourself these 9 questions below before you decide to vacate your home. At lease you would have known your alternatives.

1. Do you want to continue living in your home?
   

If the answer is yes, then fight for it until you exhausted all of your options.

2. Can you afford to reinstate all of your pass due balance? If not, read no. 3 below.     
   

You will normally get a notice from your mortgage lender requesting you to pay the delinquent balance by a given deadline, otherwise; they will accelerate your mortgage.

3.  Have you contacted your mortgage lender concerning a workout?
   

If you have not, do so now and request a workout package to see if you would qualify for a loan modification, partial clam , forbearance or Making Homes Affordable. These plans are not given automatically, you will have to qualify for them. Your situation and foreclosure sale date determines what you will qualify for.

4. Have you contacted a government agency to know whether or not they can assist you with your workout?  ( no cost to get their assistance)
   

These agencies are not guaranteed that you will get a workout, but you don’t know if you qualify if you don’t try.

5. If your mortgage lender approves you for a modification, can you afford the new payments?  (if not) 
   

What can you do to bring in extra money into the household? Take out a sheet of paper and list 10 things you can do right now to bring in additional cash. Prioritize your list and start working on the first task on your list. Try to achieve that task within 30 days.

If you are short of your monthly payments, can you eliminate some major expenses ? Can you take a part time job or take in a tenant? Can you make time to do online freelance work? Do some brain storming.

6. Have you tried to buy some time by having your mortgage lender produce the note?

Having your lender produce the note is only a stall tactic. If you have 30 days or more before your foreclosure sale date, you may want to look into using this technique. For more information, go to Google and type: "produce the note" and read all the information on that site.

7. Have you consider hiring a third party to help with your workout?
   

Do your due diligent, there are some good companies out there and there are some bad ones. The good ones can help save your home and not take advantage of you. To decide how to select a good company, read the consumer report @ http://homesforeclosurehelp.blogspot.com.

8. Do you have the ability to refinance?  (some things you need to know)
   

Find out from the propose lender what kind of credit score do they require, what will your home appraise for? Is there enough equity to finance the closing cost? Do you have enough income and a low enough debt to income ratio to qualify for the new payment?

9. As a last resort, have you consider filing Chapter 13?

This will only post pone a foreclosure sale unless you complete their installment plan. Keep in mind you will still need to keep your mortgage current as well as pay the court trustee a monthly payment toward your arrears. If you file a Chapter 13 and cannot afford it after several months. Your home will be place back into foreclosure. If this happens to you, read No. 7 above.

Now you decide whether or not to walk away from your home. Look into these options first. If you want to keep and stay in your home, the above list will help you more that you know.

Copyright 2010 Bobby Johnson - All Rights Reserved.